Elevated railway



(Nd Model.) 4 sheet-Sheet.' 1. A. RODG'ERS 8u G. MEE.

ELEVATED RAILWAY Patented Nov. 12, 1889.

N. PETERS, Phnbmmgnpw. wld-iugm, D. C.

(No Model.) K 4 sheets-sheen 2..

A. RODGERSU Gr. MEE.

. ELEVATBD RAILWAY. y l No. 414,825. Patented Nov. 12, 1889.

(No Model.)` y 4'sheqts-sheet 3. A. RODGERS & G. MBE.

ELBVATBD RAILWAY 'Patented Nov. A12, 1889.V

A num (No Modem Sheets-s118141; 4

A. RODGERS 815 G. MBE.

ELBVATED RAILWAY 110.414,825. Patented Nov. 12. 1889.

fm /ZW 1574 N.' PETERS. Phew-Lhognphcr. Washingon. B. C.

timber is floated to the mills.

NiTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER RODGERS AND GILBERT MEE, F MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN.

ELEVATED RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 414,825, dated November 12, 1889. Application filed January 23, 1889. Serial Nol 297,307. (No model.)

letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of elevated rail- `ways and the devices for operating the same,

the whole being especially designed to furnish a means for the transportation of sawlogs or other timber.

In obtainin g timber suitable for sawiu g into lumber it is found necessary to go back some distance from the streams upon which said In some parts of the country this has become necessary on account of the timber near the streams having been already cut, and in others, especially in the Statesbordering upon the Gulf of Mexico, by reason of the swampy nature of the banks for a considerable distance inland. To reach this distant timber, it has been found necessary to build railways of greater or less length, as the construction of ordinary roads and cost of transportation of teams over them would greatly increase the cost of the lumber.

The object of this invention is therefore to furnish a railway that may be cheaply constructed in a wooded or swampy country and that shall enable the operator to transport his timber quickly and at low cost.

y To accomplish these objects we construct the superstructure of trestle-work, the uprights of which may be round poles, their upper ends connected by cross-pieces bolted to the sain e. At a suitable distance below these cross-pieces are placed two (one on each side) pieces of timber, their outer ends bolted to the uprights and their inner contiguous ends supported by a rod from the upper crosspiece. These trestles, being erected at proper distances apart along the line to afford proper support for the track, are then braed as may be necessary to afford the requisite stiffness and resistance to horizontal thrusts. They are then ready to receive therails, one track being laid on the upper cross-pieces and the other near the inner ends of the projecting pieces below them. One track is therefore directly below the other, an opening being left between the ends of the supports for the lower rail the whole length of the track. Through this opening pass chains by which the log is suspended from a car traveling upon the lower line of rails. IVhen the end ot the line is reached, the car is run upon a switch, the free end of which has a vertical movement, thus enabling the carto be transferred from one line of rails to another. A station- Aary engine is used to give motion to an endless cable, one part of which travels along the lower and the other part along the upper tracks. The cars are provided with gripping devices which take a firm hold of the cable and are automatically released when the car reaches its destination.

The numberof cars used may be increased or diminished to suit the work to be done, their connection with the `cable being such that they may be readily attached to the same or detached therefrom'without stopping its movement.

In the accompanying drawings, which fully illustrate theV construction of the railway and the mechanism by which it is operated, Figure l, Sheet l, and Fig. l, Sheet 2, represent a plan view of the railway and the operating mechanism. Fig. 2,-Sheet l, and Fig. 2, vSheet 2, is a side elevation illustrating the relative arrangement of the supporting-frame and track and vertical switches. Fig. 3 shows a plan of a portion of the track on a curve, ilhstrating-the arrangement of sheaves for supporting the cable with relation to said track. Fig. a is a transverse vertical section showing the relative positions of the tracks and the cars or trucks thereon. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the supporting-frame, tracks, and truck with a log "suspended therefrom. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the car and the gripping mechanism by which it is connected with the cable. Fig. 7 represents a plan view of the car and gripping devices.

In these figures, A represents the posts or IOO uprights of the trestle; B, the caps or crosspieces at the top of the same. The posts may be of round timber and the caps formed of a single piece resting on top of the posts, or, as is considered preferable` of two pieces, one upon each side, securely bolted to said post. At suitable distances below the caps B are placed the lower track-supports (l C, their outer ends bolted to the posts and their inner ends supported by the rods a from the caps. Upon these supports are laid the rails ZJ l), which support the car when loaded, the rails b b', carried upon the caps B, forming the return-track for the unloaded cars. The length of the posts A of the trestle is varied to suit the undulations of the ground on the line of road and keep the tracks on a proper grade. Longitudinal braces, as c c, may be placed as needed between the trestles to secure the proper rigidity of the structure.

The means preferably employed for propelling the cars on this road is an endless cable D, put in motion by steam or other power engine located at a suitable point on the line, connnonly one end of the saine, the necessary t-raetion being secured by passing the cable around a series of sheaves or pulleys E, which are geared together and to the engine in such a manner as to give te their peripheries the saine speed. From this traction apparatus the cable passes over suitable guidepulleys F and F to the two lines of track and along the same to the opposite end of the road, where similar guide-pulleys are used to direct the cable from 011e track to the other. In passing curves a series of guidepulleys, as G G, mounted upon vertical axles, are placed short distances from each other along the inner side of the curve and serve to retain the cable in its proper position, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, in which figure the track is shown with an offset to assist in carrying the cars bythe pulleys which support the cable.

ln order to transfer the unloaded car from the upper to the lower track a counterbalance-section His hinged to the end of the upper track, forming a vertical switch, which acts automatically. The lower track below the section Il extends for something more than a cardength beyond the end of said section, forming the incline ll. As the car runs out upon the section ll its frceend goes down until it strikes upon the incline ll', up which the car runs until the switch is free, when it is instantly raised to its original position by the weight lV upon the lever lV', which is firmly secured upon the shaft I, forming the journal to which the section ll or switch is pivoted. The car is then free to run down the incline upon the lower track into position for loading or starting upon its return trip. On reaching the opposite end of the track and unloading the car it becomes necessary to raise it from the lower to the upper track. This is accomplished by providing the section of track J, pivoted at J upon a supplementary tresi'le in such a manner that the end adjacent to the main tracks may .be raised or lowered to come in alignment with either. The section of track may be wholly or partly balanced upon its pivot, and is raised from the lower to the upper line by means of the winch K after a car has been run upon it. The car may then be run upon the upper track and connected with the cable to be carried to the opposite end of the road.

The car used upon this road for the transportation of logs is of very simple construction, consisting of a pair of axles L L, provided with suitable wheels, said axles support-ing and being connected by a beam M, upon the upper side of which is placed a gripping mechanism by which it is connected with the cable. This mechanism consists ol' a fixed part or jaw N, securely bolted to the beam M, and a movable jaw N', pivoted to the part N. Each of these jaws are provided with a box-like receptacle, in which is placed the gripping-blocks 0 o, held in place and adjusted by the screws o o. These gripping-blocks are preferably formed of some hard word and may be easily replaced by others when worn out. They are provided with shallow grooves in their contiguous faces, which grooves receive the cable. The pivoted jaw N' has a rearward extension N, forming a lever for operating the jaw. As this lever is necessarily restricted in length and it requires considerable pressure to enable thc jaws to get a secure grip of the cable, a shaft l) is placed at right angles to the jaw and above the lever. This shaft carries a cam P', which cam, when the shaft is turned, acts on the lever, causing the jaws to open or close. A wear-piece x is secured upon the lever N, directly under the cani, and is made adjustable by means of a set-screw to take up the wear of the cam. This piece a: is also so arranged as to admit of ready replacement by anew one when necessary.

To the outer end of the shaft l. is attached a lever R, carrying at its outer extremity a wheel R', by which it may be operated as it comes in contactwith the incline (l (Z and c c at the points where the ear is to stop or start, the inclines (Z and d', closing the grip upon the cable, thus starting the carand the inclines c e in a reverse position, releasing the grip when ,it is desired to stop the car.V

The conical sheaves or pulleys S S, havingv lOO IIO

ISO

Y 414,825' l i 3 which pass around the log and are provided with dogs to drive into the same, are secured. One of these dogs has a handle-like extension, a blow upon which dislodges the dog when it is desired to unload and allows the log to fall.

In operating this road the car connected g with the cable on the upper track proceeds to the place where it is to receive its load, and.

when it arrives at the incline marked Stop in Fig. l the grip will be released by the action of said incline on the lever R. The car will then proceed slowly onto the hinged section of track H. The Weight of the car will press said section down until the ends come in contact with the inclined portion H of the lower track. The car continues its way, and when clear of the tipping-section H the latter will at once be raised by the weight XV, and the car will run down the incline H until it strikes the stop c. It is now in position to be loaded, after which, the stop being removed, the car runs forward on the track, the grip-lever strikes the incline d', which causes the grip to seize the cable, and the car continues its course to the opposite end of the track-,where it is to be unloaded. Upon reaching this point the grip-lever comes in contact with the incline e, the cable is released, and the car is stopped.` The log is then disengaged from the chains, and the car moved forward upon the pivoted track J, where it is held by the stop i. The winch K or other suitable mechanism is then used to raise the track J to a level with the upper line of rails. rlhe car runs off upon said line, and the griplever strikes the incline d, causingr the gripping-jaws to grasp the cable, and the car proceeds on its way to the opposite end of the line for another load.

XVe are aware that elevated railways have been devised with two tracks, one above the other; but such roads Were intendedfor use with a double system of cars, those upon the upper tracks bein g mounted upon their trucks in the ordinary mannelgwhile those intended for use upon the lower track were suspended from the truck beneath the track. Ve do not, therefore, broadly claim an elevated railway having two tracks, one above the other, but limit our claims to the construction and arrangement of parts hereinbefore described.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,l the following:

l. As an improvement in elevated railways, the combination of the two tracks, one placed directly above the other, with the verticallyacting switches adapted to transfer the cars from one track to the other, as specified.

2. As an improvement in elevated railways having two tracks, one above the other, the combination, with said tracks, of the hinged counterbalanced section H and the inclined section H', arranged substantially as shown and described.

3. As an improvement in elevated railways having two tracks, one above another, the combination, with said tracks, of the pivoted section J and the winch K, adapted for raising said section from the lower to theupper track, as set forth.

et. As an improvement in elevated railways and devices for operating the same, the combination of two tracks placed one above the other, an endless cable and mechanism for operating the same, a car provided with a gripping device for attaching the car to the cable, and inclines in a fixed position adapted to automatically close and open the grippingjawsupon the approach of the car, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER. RODGERS. I GILBERT MEE.

lVitnesses:

D. M. LAUGHLIN, NV. F. CHRYSTAL. 

